Get what you need in bed - a good night's sleep!

Your sleeping problems solved. By Ann Montague

It's not much to ask, surely. But the reality is that lack of sleep has overtaken stress as a major threat to women's health. Here's how to get what you need in the bedroom.

There's nothing like a good night's sleep to help you feel energised and optimistic - and you need just one bad night to realise how debilitating too little can be. Yet surveys show one in three of us have difficulty sleeping, and a quarter of us feel exhausted during the day.

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'Our bodies are just not designed for our 24-hour world,' says independent sleep consultant Dr Neil Stanley. Like severe stress, a lack of sleep can lower immunity and increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. And it can rapidly spiral out of control, affecting every aspect of your life.

Discover your sleep type

You fall asleep within minutes of going to bed, but you wake up frequently during the night and find it difficult to get back to sleep.

What's the problem?

Something is interfering with your sleep. The brain naturally wakes every 90 minutes during sleep and usually goes straight into the next sleep cycle, unless it gets disturbed, says Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre. There are lots of reasons why we wake at night - a snoring or restless partner, pain, needing to go to the loo or problems like restless legs.

Your sleep solution

✦ Address issues that are interfering with your sleep, and try to shift your way of thinking: 'If you go to bed dreading not being able to sleep and worrying when you wake up, it will be harder to get back to sleep and the more ingrained the habit of waking becomes,' says Dr Neil Stanley. ✦ Take painkillers before bed if necessary, don't go to bed with a full bladder and move (or banish the snorer) to the spare room. Restless legs can be helped by keeping them cool in the evenings and having a fan in the bedroom. If the problem persists, talk to your doctor - it can be linked to iron deficiency and drugs such as antihistamines and antidepressants. ✦ Avoid too much alcohol. 'In low doses it can be relaxing, but more than a glass or so will affect your sleep. As the alcohol becomes metabolised your brain will react to the lack of it and wake you up,' says Dr Idzikowski. ✦ Nicotine is a stimulant - if you smoke, don't do it after 6pm.

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You spend hours tossing and turning with your mind racing before you manage to drop off

What's the problem?

You don't wind down before bed, so your mind and body are still on high alert.

Your sleep solution

'Forget the rules about "sleep hygiene" and find effective ways to relax in bed. If watching TV makes you drop off within 10 or 15 minutes, then do it,' says Dr Stanley. ✦ Find your personal sleep inducer. Perhaps it's a leisurely warm bath, listening to music or reading in bed with a dim light. You could also make yourself a glass of warm milk - Dutch researchers found milk contains a protein that improves both the quality of sleep and your alertness the next day. Or try bed socks - Swiss researchers discovered that if your extremities are cold it can upset the release of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, and keeping feet warm helps the onset of sleep. ✦ Reflect on anything that's worrying you well before bedtime - writing down the next day's to-do list and any concerns you have will help you let them go. ✦ Practice meditation or relaxation techniques during the day. Even just a short meditation session can help you sleep better, say US scientists.

You fall asleep immediately but feel tired and groggy the next day.

What's the problem?

You may have obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) - a condition where your airway becomes obstructed, which interferes with your breathing and causes you to wake fleetingly, gasping for breath, often during the night. OSA deprives your vital organs of oxygen, and can cause high blood pressure and lead to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Oestrogen is thought to protect against OSA, so it becomes increasingly common in women after the menopause.

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Your sleep solution

✦ If you feel sleepy during the day and are snoring at night, talk to your doctor. ✦ If you're overweight, losing it and avoiding alcohol at night may do the trick. If not, you may be referred to a sleep clinic for a device that pumps pressurised air directly into your lungs.

You're going through the menopause and it seems to be ruining your sleep.

What's the problem?

Hormonal changes around the menopause can lead to night sweats that can wake you up in the middle of the night, and may also interfere with sleep patterns.

Your sleep solution

✦ HRT can combat night sweats and hot flushes. Alternatively, studies show women who take regular exercise and eat a diet rich in phyto-oestrogens (legumes, seeds, grains and fruits) have fewer hot flushes/night sweats. ✦ Wear natural fibres, use cotton or silk sheets, and keep cool with an open window or fan.

You wake early every morning. Even when you try to go back to sleep, you can't drop off again.

What's your problem?

Waking early with other symptoms - apathy, lack of energy and weepiness - may be a symptom of depression. But it's more likely you're being disturbed by noise, light or temperature changes. Deep sleep occurs early, and then it becomes lighter, so you're more easily woken as the night progresses.

Your sleep solution

✦ Make sure the room is warm, dark and noise free - even a mobile phone or ticking clock can disturb sleep. ✦ Stop yourself napping during the day to encourage better sleep at night. ✦ If you find you feel refreshed and aren't tired the next day, stop worrying about how long you sleep and make the most of the extra hour or two in your day.

You work shifts, so your sleeping patterns are irregular. You don't sleep well, and never feel as though you've had a proper rest.

✦ Try to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Naps of less than 30 minutes can help revive you if your main sleep is too short. Avoid long lie-ins to catch up on sleep. ✦ Keep your sleep environment dark, quiet, ventilated and comfortable. Ensure the family understands you mustn't be disturbed. ✦ Time meals and other activities to match your new sleep schedule.

You don't feel sleepy at night when it's time for bed, but you always feel tired in the morning when you wake up.

What's your problem?

You're an owl trying to live like a lark. Most of us tend towards either an early to bed/early to rise or late to bed/late to rise sleep pattern, and trying to override your body's natural tendency can be a real problem.

Your sleep solution

Keep a record of when you go to bed and get up, and how much time you spend sleeping. If you spend more than 20 minutes getting to sleep, go to bed later. Go outside as soon as you wake up to help you feel more alert.

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